When I started this blog, I intended to post in it once every other week or so. Obviously it hasn't worked out that way because this is my fifth post in about a week. :) There is SO much going on that I want to write about it all before I forget anything!
Today I had my EARLY class. It starts at 7:00am which means that breakfast was at 5:45am and we have to leave the house by 6:00am. Luckily, there is no reason to put much effort into my appearance, because I will sweat off any make-up I put on within 10 minutes of going outside. There is no point in doing much with my hair besides put it up because it very quickly goes to puffy and sweaty. Gross? Yes. Do I care? Not at all. I’m getting used to feeling disgusting and it’s not so disgusting anymore. Everyone in the program is the same so it’s not a big deal. And it is really nice to just take a shower, put my hair up, and then leave. What gets me, though, is how the locals don’t sweat much. I guess they just get used to it, but how is it humanly possible to NOT sweat when the temperature of the air is greater than the temperature of your body??? Anyway, just something interesting to consider. I have to say, though, that I am surprised there aren’t more insects. I’ve seen a significant number of ants and other little critters that I’m unfamiliar with but not many things bigger. I mean, I have definitely flicked a few little bugs out of my food because there are often a few the crawl onto the table but for how hot it is ALL of the time, you’d think there would be some giant, bloodsucking, scary creatures lurking around each corner. Maybe it’s because I live in a nice house. There are a lot of mosquitoes, though. I currently have about 8 bites and one is on my stomach. I have no idea how it got there…
So after class today, Mari and I walked to the bus stop and after waiting for a few minutes, we could see about 15 of the other program participants on their way to the same bus stop. As they crossed the street and walked towards us, a car zoomed up and stopped in front of us. A woman inside told us to get in. It was one of my teachers but I didn’t recognize her at first so I was thinking, “there is NO WAY I am getting in that car!” But Mari got in and then I realized who it was. So I got in. It was funny to turn around and see the faces of the others in the program. I just caught a glimpse before we drove off, but they looked really surprised. They were probably wondering why Mari and I randomly got in a car that stopped in front of us. Anyway, the drive took about 20 minutes (35ish minutes less than normal) and it was free! Mari tried to give her gas money when she dropped us off but she wouldn’t take it. People here are so awesome.
Later, we went to El Centro again. But this time we actually spent some time enjoying it. On the way, a couple of young guys boarded the bus dressed like clowns. They started telling jokes back and forth and I soon realized they were doing a comedy act. I didn’t think it was that funny, but the people on the bus definitely did so it must be a cultural thing. Anyway, they collected money after their little routine and after seeing how many people gave them money, I realized it’s actually a really good idea. No one gave them a LOT of money, but if they got 6 pesos from 15 people (which they easily did), that’s 90 pesos (or about 8 dollars). And they were on our bus for about 15 or less minutes. Anyway, I gave them a little bit of money and then took a picture with each of them:
(don’t make fun of my gang sign…he did it first.)
In El Centro, we went to the Catedral. It was hard to get a good picture because it’s SO big, but here is the best I got:
I plan to go back sometime soonish and spend more time getting better pictures.
Here is a tour bus that was colorful and cool:
Also in El Centro is an ice cream place, Colón. Colón is SO good! I bought chocolate flavor, which was kinda weird because Mexican chocolate has cinnamon and other stuff in it but it was good. I tried someone’s “coco” (coconut) and it was amazing. I’m getting that flavor next time for sure. Anyway, here are some pictures from Colón:
El Centro has some really cool stuff. It’s definitely a touristy place but we’re kinda half-tourists so it was fun! There are a lot of people who sell little trinkets and crafts that they make. There are hammocks, jewelry, many different types of belts, bags, clothing, and tons of other stuff.
After El Centro, we went to the director’s house for a girl’s night at the pool there and on the way home, we decided to take a little shortcut. On the map, it looked easy and definitely way shorter than walking all the way around on the large, well-traveled road that we took on Monday after FHE. Well, it wasn’t too difficult but there were parts that were waaaaaaay shady. It was dark and we had never been on those particular roads before. At one point, we passed a dimly-lit house and behind the gate to the house were multiple loud, angry, seemingly-aggressive dogs. It scared us to death! They were really scary. So anyway, we didn’t get eaten or anything, but here is a picture of one of the streets:
So anyway, we got home okay and didn't get lost, but I think next time we will take the long way. =]
1 comments:
You look so happy! And tan! keep the posts coming! I know lots of ppl love to read them and this is a good way to keep a "journal" of what you're doing day by day
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